House of Frankenstein - 1944

Ahhh, movie night. Time to get out the Universal Monster list and see what kind of torment we're in for this week.

So, Dr. Niemann is in prison with Daniel, a hunchback. An earthquake breaks the floor into a huge tunnel that leads to freedom. Once out, they come across a convenient freakshow that claims to have the coffin of Dracula. Niemann kills the guys and takes over the wagons. He takes the stake out of the skeleton, and Dracula comes back to life! Somehow.

Meanwhile, they're in a town where the mayor appears to recognize Niemann. So, he bribes Dracula, and the vampire heads over and spends the evening with the family. He gives his ring to some woman and kidnaps her after he turns into an owl (the shadow really looked like an owl), and they try to escape in a carriage. Niemann and Daniel are afraid the police are after them, but then decide to throw Dracula under the wagon and chuck his coffin out. Then the carriage separates, Dracula dies in the sun, and the couple is reunited. End of act one, I suppose.

Then, Niemann and Daniel come across some gypsies, and Daniel picks up a gypsy and brings her to Frankenstein's ruins. While there, they enter Superman's Fortress of Solitude and find the Wolfman and the Monster frozen in the ice. They thaw them out and take them to Niemann's lab. There, they work on fixing the monster while promising the wolfman he'll be cured/killed. Eventually, all the characters die.

This was one of the weirdest things. It was like two different shows slammed together. The section with Dracula seemed totally unrelated to the second half. None of it mattered, and I still don't understand how taking a stake out of a skeleton would bring Dracula back to life. That was just weird. It was a Dracula movie, then it was The Hunchback of Notre Dame, then it was the Wolfman, then it was Frankenstein. Weird. At least it had the Grinch in it. I love his voice.

The Crow - 1994

In April of 2024, I read the complete graphic novel for The Crow. It's been a while, but I wanted to watch this movie. We'd been busy around here, and I wanted to see if my husband would be willing to watch it with me.

Eric and Shelly are murdered on Devil's Night, the chaotic evening before Halloween. A year later, Eric emerges from his grave and tracks down those responsible for the murders. It all builds to a showdown near the cemetery between Top Dollar and Eric.

I did enjoy this movie, and the end made me teary eyed. The necessary changes made to the plot were understandable, and the death of Brandon Lee looms over the film to those who know about it while watching. I found it sad the accident made James O'Barr regret writing the comic in the first place. It's a beautiful story, and it's more than a story of revenge.

The character of Sarah is an expanded minor character from the comic, Sherri. I really liked her in the movie. Most of the time, I'm not a fan of huge changes, but this one was different. Sarah had a spicy attitude, and her interactions with Eric were so sweet.

There are times when you can tell this is a movie from the 90s, but overall the movie is really good. I would watch it again, and it easily earns a Good Movie! review.

RIP Brandon Lee

Strait-Jacket - 1964

I was sifting through the classics on Tubi and found this movie. I hadn't seen it and had some time. I decided to watch it while I sorted my puzzle pieces. The writer of the screenplay, Robert Bloch, sounded familiar. I went back through my blogs and found him on my book reviews. I read This Crowded Earth almost three years ago. It received a Good Book! review.

Lucy is coming to her brother's house after being in an asylum for 20 years. She snapped when she found her husband in bed with another woman and took an axe to them both. Unfortunately, she did that in front of her daughter. 

Now, she's reunited with the daughter, since Lucy's brother raised her. Being back in the world is a big adjustment for Lucy, and her daughter, Carol. Things in the environment are triggering memories of the past, and Lucy fears for her sanity.

When one of Lucy's doctors shows up at the house, things start to go off the rails. The doctor is murdered, and Carol gets rid of his car. She tells her mother that she won't let anyone take her back to the hospital.

For not having any expectations, I thought this was a pretty decent movie. I had a hint of what might be going on for a little while, but the end surprised me. I'm glad they had the little explanation afterward, because I still had a few unanswered questions. 

The most hilarious part of this is the movie poster where it warns the viewer of the vividly depicted ax murders. By today's standards, there was absolutely nothing "vivid" about them. The scariest part for me was figuring out what dark shadow she was going to pop out of. I'm easily frightened, so most people wouldn't have that issue. For being a blind pick, it's a Good Movie!

Das Boot - 1981

I was really looking forward to watching this movie. I have it on a collection set with other classics like The Bridge on the River Kwai. I really enjoyed that one, and with the reviews and recommendations for Das Boot, I was ready to be impressed. This is in German and had subtitles.

A German U-Boat crew is hunting for English convoys. It's not been easy lately, since the English have been sending protection with them. It's toward the end of the war, so crews are being filled with young, inexperienced crews. They're idealistic and eager, but the captain knows things will be different when they've been at sea for a while.

They have a lot of down time, since they have to choose their targets carefully. Any hint of a destroyer, and they run. The depth charges are brutal, and the crew has to fight to maintain their sanity. Toward the end, they're ready to head back to dock, but they get orders instead.

This movie has so many good reviews, but I'm not going to give them one. I had the director's cut, and while the movie itself was well done, I hated almost everyone. The captain was an extremely unlikable character who just sat around and yelled at people. He was very excited when he torpedoed unarmed transport ships and left men to die in the water, though. Even toward the end, after staring death in the face for hours, he's boasting about putting one over on the enemy. Ugh...

I may be a bit of a hypocrite here, since I liked Run Silent, Run Deep. In my defense, in that movie, they're trying to hunt down ships and engage in combat with other ships. Also, the characters didn't suck.

Back to Das Boot. The Naval Correspondent was okay, but his beard drove me nuts. I don't know why, but yuck. I had two people I cared about on that boat, and only one of them lived. The Chief just wanted to make it back to his wife. Johann had been on NINE tours, had a mental break, and the captain was ready to shoot him. Or court-martial him. I really hate the captain.

From an artistic standpoint, the film is pretty good. The ability to convey the claustrophobia men went through in those tight quarters is something I don't envy. I'd go insane for sure. But I don't watch super long movies for their artistic merit. I watch to be entertained. And I was not entertained. My one surviving crewman was not enough to make those hours worth it. One positive, though: I learned I didn't want to read the book!

The Mummy's Ghost - 1944

Movie night this week was our next film in the Universal monster movie list.

A man is tasked with reuniting the mummy with his girlfriend who is on display at a museum. A professor makes some tea, and the mummy appears out of nowhere. I might have missed that part, but I'm not sure why the mummy just came out of the trees when the professor made the tea. 

An Egyptian woman who doesn't like Egypt is under a spell and shows up at the crime scene, only to pass out and then get a white streak in her hair. Apparently, the ghost of the girlfriend has come to roost in this woman's body. 

The mummy heads to the museum to collect his woman, but the wrappings are empty. That's when they come up with the brilliant idea to follow the light and grab the fainting woman. They take her to a weird building where the dumbest people alive try to save her. Seriously, the dogs are the smartest beings in this movie. The slow-moving mummy shouldn't have had the chance to kill anyone, and when he's slowly shuffling away with the unconscious woman, why didn't one of the 50 members of the riot squad spot them? She was wearing a white nightgown, and that thing was bright!

Anyway, I liked the dogs. Peanut and King were the real heroes of this strange story, but there was still one big question: where was the mummy's body? The woman mummy? They were saying her ghost was in the chick with the streaks in her hair, so where did the actual body go? I think there's one more Mummy movie in the list I have, so we'll see if there are dogs to save that one...

Police Squad! - 1982

This is another DVD I haven't had the opportunity to watch. I grew up with The Naked Gun, and Leslie Nielsen is a genius of comedy. I'd always wanted to see this comedy series, and it was finally time.

Over the course of six episodes, Frank and his team solve crime in their own way. They get the job done in the most hilarious way possible. There is so much going on, you definitely have to make sure you're paying attention all the time.

If you've seen The Naked Gun, you'll see where a lot of the best jokes came from. I normally don't laugh out loud when I watch stuff by myself, but I was doing it a lot during this. I'm going to have to watch it again just to see what I missed. Because there's stuff I missed. Things are always going on in the background. For example, they're talking about something, and the Eiffel Tower is seen out the window. The freeze frames at the end are genius, and I love them. I love Abraham Lincoln. I love the guest stars. I loved the running jokes that would carry over from one episode to the next.

While I was watching this, I noticed the actors for the captain and Nordberg were different than the movie. Alan North and Peter Lupus were recast, and I'm bummed about that after seeing the chemistry they all had together. It looked like they all had fun, especially in the gag reel. Apparently, North and Lupus weren't big enough stars to be in the movie. Garbage.

The real tragedy here was the number of episodes. Six. Six episodes is all we got of this unique and hilarious TV show. I'm sure not everyone will appreciate this kind of humor, but I'm all in for it, and I'm ready to watch it again to see what I missed. Great Fun!

War and Peace - 1956

I didn't make it through the book, but I did watch the epic series from 1966-1967. I was looking through my unwatched DVDs, and I have a couple of multi-set collections to get through. One of them is Audrey Hepburn, and I didn't realize she was in a version of this story.

Again, this story covers a lot of ground, but this particular movie focuses more on the characters of Natasha, Andrei and Pierre. The battle scenes were okay, but the scope was a bit smaller than the epic series (obviously). There were still some cringey moments when some of the horses fell, and later when the French were marching through the Russian winter, but it wasn't too bad.

Natasha wasn't near as irritating, but she still had her moments. Maybe it had something to do with it being Audrey. She always seems to bring such a light to every role she plays. Even when I've seen her in a black and white film, she just lights up the screen.

Pierre was a bit off in this one. He seemed a bit old, but I waited to look up anything until the film was over. I didn't think he was supposed to be older, and I was right. I'm not sure why they decided to use Henry Fonda (whom I normally enjoy as an actor), who was 50ish at the time of filming. Pierre is supposed to be 20-27 during the entire story. It was just a bit weird, and I didn't like the relationship between him and Natasha. Andrei was a cool character, and I was sad to see him die.

Overall, I did like this film. It was cool to see Herbert Lom (Pink Panther) in this. He's always a cool actor to watch. I'm going to have to give the battle scenes to the series and the characters to this movie. I realize the depth isn't present in this version, but sacrifices had to be made. Good Movie!

The Invisible Man's Revenge - 1944

For movie night this week, our Universal Monster movie was this little gem.

Some guy escapes from a mental institution and smuggles himself aboard a ship for London. I have questions about how he got himself wrapped up in that bundle and how he didn't smother to death, but they'll never be answered. He wants revenge on a family that he feels has stolen from him. The wife just happens to have sedatives lying around next to the liquor and drugs him. His incriminating paper is taken from him, and the couple send him off into the night. He meets a mad scientist with an irritating invisible parrot, and he decides to become the first human experiment. For revenge.

This movie was pretty dull overall. I think he only really killed one guy, and that was to make himself visible. He has to be visible, because the guy he wants revenge on won't hand over his daughter unless he's visible. Can't get married without being seen, ya know! For some reason, transfusing all of a person's blood is the solution. Science! Other than that, invisible guy did some weird stuff and ran with darts.

The real hero of this movie was Grey Shadow. The mad scientist was calling him Brutus in the movie, but he's credited as himself at the end, and it's a cooler name. G. S. was the mad scientist's dog, and an experiment as well. Stupid human. Anyway, later on, the scientist drains a St. Bernard to make G. S. visible again (RIP St. Bernard). Invisible Criminal sees that and learns he can be visible as well. He tries to save his master but is unsuccessful.

G. S. then goes on a series of terror attacks by tracking down the invisible dude and barking at all hours and howling. It unnerves the man like nothing else can. Eventually, he becomes the real hero of the movie. Good boy, Grey Shadow!

Anyway, if the dog wasn't in the movie, it would've been super boring. The "comedy" was pretty stupid, and I wasn't a fan. Our human "hero" was daft, and without Grey Shadow, I think this Invisible Doofus would have gotten away with a lot more.

Gone in 60 Seconds - 1974

This is the original inspiration for the 2000 movie with the same name. The one with Nicholas Cage and Angelina Jolie is a loose remake with different characters and a different plot, so there's not too much to compare between the two.

I was so excited when this movie started. I mean, when the credits basically are "starring Eleanor" (referencing the car) I'm immediately intrigued!

An insurance investigator is going to attempt to steal 48 cars in five days. All the cars have code names, and all the thieves have wigs. It's pretty great. There's some really great looking cars in this movie, and as I watched it, I started to have some questions. When the car chase begins, strap in - you're going to be here a while...

Okay, so this is the longest car chase ever. And I'm not exaggerating. Let's rewind just a second. The man who directed, wrote, produced and starred in this movie was a stunt driver. He also decided to film it without an official script. He bought all the cars involved, including police cars and some fire trucks. He also did all his own stunts. More on that later. Back to the chase. This thing was 40 minutes, went through five cities and destroyed over 90 cars. Wow.

This man hurt himself for this film. So did other people. During one accident, stuntman H. B. Halicki had an unscripted wreck and knocked himself out. They had to stop filming while he recovered and three weeks later, they resumed while he had broken ribs and a leg cast. The jump at the end compressed ten of his vertebrae, and he never really walked the same again. Yikes!

Okay, so the whole car chase happens because Pumpkin (unfortunate name) tells our main character he has to take Eleanor back because she's not insured. Forty minutes later, there are numerous seriously injured people and destroyed property and cars everywhere. Is that better?! They even stole some guy's famous Bronco. And let's just gloss over how many Eleanor's we came across. They were just everywhere in 1974, I guess. I wasn't super happy about the main guy getting away, but the movie was entertaining. Poor Billy, though. He didn't really have a purpose in the film, but there he was. Also, RIP to the Challenger. It was a real shame to watch them pick that thing up and put it in the crusher.

Here's a side note: Halicki wanted to make a Gone in 60 Seconds 2, but an unfortunate accident cost him his life while setting up a stunt. That was tragic.

Overall, I'm going to say that I prefer this movie to the 2000 version. There is probably more story and less car chase in the more recent movie, but I couldn't resist the charm of this. I hated everyone's wigs, but their kits were amazing. The tiger was random, and the chase scene too long. I have a preference for the look of the older cars, especially the muscle cars, so the eye candy of the cars was okay by me. Pumpkin's hair probably put a hole in the ozone, but it was the 70s. But if I add the movie with the story behind it, this movie easily earns a Good Movie! review.

Ghost in the Shell - 1995

My eyes were getting tired from reading, so I decided to throw on something random that caught my interest. I hit the anime category on Tubi and thought this title sounded familiar. I never figured out why it sounded familiar, but here we are. 

In the future, technology has been utilized to the point where some humans are more machine than flesh. When even their brains are machine, do they have rights? Where is the line drawn? Major Motoko Kusanagi is a cyborg, and she's tracking a hacker called the Puppet Master. Finding him will change her destiny.

The concept of this was really interesting to me. I didn't really need all the weird nudity, but I just ignored it. The story is based on a manga, which I may look into sometime in the future. Some of the shots lingered for a long time, and the song during the rain struck me as weird. Maybe the lyrics were relevant, but I didn't have any translation for those, so I was confused.

Anyway, I liked this movie. The story was unique, and I found it interested. I appreciated that it didn't dump a bunch of exposition at me, but at the same time, I found myself a bit lost at times. I figured out the main points, so it it was all good in the end. Good Movie!

In Harm's Way - 1965

This morning, I finally got the chance to crack open my collection of John Wayne movies. I've been leaning toward this title for a while, so I put it in the player and settled in for a few hours. The movie is based on a book called Harm's Way by James Bassett. It's fiction and doesn't have historical ships and characters in it (other than the president, etc.). And side note: The poster for this movie is really ugly.

The movie begins with the attack on Pearl Harbor. Rock Torrey is outside the harbor and tracks down the Japanese sub in the area. This demotes him until his intelligence friend gets him on a mission in the South Pacific. Now, he's an admiral and gets his own command. Sprinkled into the story is a love story, a son he hasn't seen in 18 years, hierarchy politics and battle plans.

This movie was almost three hours long, but I didn't feel it. I saw both an overview of what was happening and how it affected individual characters. The storyline with Eddington was gross, but I was happy Rock stood his ground for no medal recommendation. I also want to give some major props to the man who was in charge of the map during the final battle. It looked really great, and for some reason, I couldn't stop looking at it.

I saw some negative reviews complaining the movie was dragged out and that John Wayne didn't die. I wouldn't expect John Wayne to die, but I was more concerned about "Mac." If something happened to Mac, I was going to riot. Everyone else could die, and most of them did, but if Mac died, I was going to hate the movie. I can't really explain the passion behind my feelings for that, but that's just how it is.

Anyway, I was a bit surprised the movie was in black and white, but it didn't really bother me. Most of the footage looked good, but there were a few pretty "model" moments. The length didn't bother me, and I liked the story. Most of the deaths were a bummer, but I couldn't complain about them. It was war after all...Good Movie!

 

The Mad Ghoul - 1943

It was movie night, and we found our Universal Monster movie list. We were up to The Mad Ghoul, and we sat down to witness the majesty of what it held for us.

Ted is a student who likes to kiss the butt of his teacher, Dr. Morris. The doctor has been experimenting with some Mayan gas that kills people, but if Ted performs cardiectomies to get heart juice, the subject comes back - sort of. 

Enter the blond woman who warbles on stage. She's Ted's girlfriend, and the doctor wants her. She doesn't love Ted anymore, because she loves her piano player, Eric. Dr. Morris doesn't know about Eric, so he thinks if he ghoulifies Ted, he'll have a clear way to the warbler. So, he gases Ted.

Now, Ted has crepey skin and messy hair. Immediately. Dr. Morris tells him there was an accident, and they use some heart juice to make him normal for a while. The warbler is going on a tour, and Ted and the doctor are trailing along. Ted is being clingy, but he keeps having episodes. So, in every town, someone is either killed or dug up so Ted can have heart juice.

First, I want to address George Zucco. Why is his name so small on the poster? He's literally the villain of the film, and he's listed fourth?! He's also got more screen time than some of the others listed. I liked George Zucco, and he did crazy here as well. He also seemed really resistant to his the gas he created. He ran all over town after sucking in some of that stuff, while Ted keeled over almost immediately.

The movie itself was okay. As usual, the woman was annoying. She's fallen out of love with Ted, which I can't really say I blame her, but she's all wishy washy. I mean, she was already in love with someone else. In this, she was particularly annoying since she was singing all the time. I want to give props to the policemen who went to the concert with their guns. That was epic. This was okay, but I'm not sure it pushes over into a good movie review.

Street Fighter Alpha: Generations - 2005

We didn't have a lot of time to watch something, so my husband and I doom scrolled until we found this...thing. We've played Street Fighter, so we wondered, how bad could it be?

I'm not going to say too much about this. I mean, it's only 45 minutes, and we were confused about why a lot of things happened. Even though it felt like not a lot happened. Some chick pops out of nowhere and faints. It's not until they fight we figured out who she was. We kept shouting at the TV, "Who are you?!" And then we got to watch Ryu beat the crap out of her. That was probably the funniest part.

My husband was so salty about this. It was hilarious. He's so easygoing that finding something bad enough it'll get an actual response out of him is rare. It's like finding a unicorn. He was still raging about it 10 minutes later. The show was awful, and I didn't like it, but it did get a couple laughs out of me.